The invention relates to an improved apparatus and method for lower back exercise and an apparatus for exercising the lower back.
Back muscle and cartilage injuries, especially in the lower lumbar region of the back are relatively common. Such injuries are especially common in individuals who, for one reason or another, have failed to maintain the conditioning and tone of the muscles that support the lower back. These muscles, the spinal erectors and hip flexor must be maintained in reasonable condition if such muscle and cartilage injuries are to be protected against.
Additionally, once injury has occurred, healing can be promoted by increasing the flow of blood to the injured muscles and the areas surrounding the injury. Unfortunately, the number and density of blood vessels in the lower back area is relatively low. However, exercise is believed by many to stimulate increased blood flow. A draw back to most forms of exercise is the risk or tendency of hyperextension of the already injured muscles thereby aggravating the injury rather than promoting healing of the muscles, cartilage and surrounding tissues.
There have been a number of attempts to exercise the back and other body parts to increase muscle tone and stimulate the flow of blood to muscles and tissues: U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,234 to Forsythe discloses a back exercise apparatus that includes one section in which the user lies on his side, and a second section attached to the users legs which the user rotates about a vertical axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,445 to Winkelvoss describes an exercise machine that includes a horizontal torso support from which the legs hang vertically downward. The user then lifts his legs to the horizontal to exercise the lower back.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,954 to Apostol discloses an exercise apparatus including a table having a weight bar pendulum attached to one end.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,962 to Krause describes a posture treatment apparatus that includes a platform for supporting the users torso in a perpendicular relationship to his legs.
However, none of the previous attempts have met the exercise needs of individuals who have already sustained lower back injuries or whose lower back areas are too out-of-condition to be able to withstand rigorous exercise. In order for exercise to be of value, it must progressively increase in intensity. A common method of increasing the intensity of an exercise is through the use of increased resistance from static weight additions. However, adding weight to an exercise can increase the hyperextension of lower back muscles. Therefore, weight training is not generally recommended for those suffering from lower back muscle, tissue and cartilage injuries.
There is a need for a method of exercise and an exercise apparatus that avoids hyperextension of lower back muscles while providing for conditioning and muscle tone, and which can increase local blood circulation to injured muscles and tissues in the lower back. There is also a need for an exercise that can permit progressive intensity of the work out to strengthen lower back muscles, tissues and provide increased blood flow to those areas. U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,359, to Applicant Louis J. Simmons addresses these needs. The present application is an improvement over the apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,359, as well as the apparatus disclosed in Applicant""s pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/713,930.
The instant invention is a method for exercising the lower back and upper legs in which the muscles of the lower back contracted to lift the legs to a horizontal position for a person lying face down, anterior side down, on an apparatus designed to implement the exercise. The apparatus provides for the pivoting interconnection and cooperation of the legs with a static weight retaining portion of the apparatus. Because the muscles are contracted only and because the muscles only accomplish the task of lifting the legs against the static resistance of the weights, no hyperextension of the muscles of the lower back occurs, especially the spinal erector and hip flexor muscles of the lower back. The pivoting interconnection permits use of the apparatus with optimal benefit for persons of all leg length and body size. The adjustable static weight system further provides a work out level commensurate with the starting strength of each individual and permits weight adjustment to allow for progressively increasing the intensity of the work out as strength increases.
A primary aspect of the present invention is the provision for a method of exercising lower back muscles, even in an individual who has suffered injury to those muscles and surrounding tissue under which the muscles can be vigorously exercised without the risk of hyperextension and subsequent re-injury or aggravation of existing injury.
The first preferred embodiment is an apparatus for lower back exercise comprising a support structure that further comprises a body support platform supported by the support structure. The body support platform may be pivotable with respect to the horizontal to allow the exercise to proceed at different levels of intensity or to stress different muscle groups in the lower back.
A pendulum, having an upper portion and a lower portion, is pivotably connected to the support structure below the body support platform. The upper portion of the pendulum has a bearing; the pendulum being connected to the support structure with the bearing.
The pendulum further comprises a frame connected to the lower portion of the pendulum and one or more weights removably connected to the frame. A sleeve slideably engages the pendulum and has an adjustable lock for adjustably fixing the sleeve to the pendulum. A resistance transfer apparatus is pivotably connected to the sleeve by means of a mounting assembly. The mounting assembly comprises a fork and a pin for pivotably connecting to the sleeve at a connecting pivot on the sleeve.
The resistance transfer apparatus pivots in a plane substantially parallel to that of the pendulum while engaging the lower legs of a person exercising; the resistance transfer apparatus further comprises a central bar connected to the mounting assembly and at least one pair of resistance rods connected to the central bar and disposed perpendicular to the central bar on opposite sides thereof for engaging the legs of a person exercising. The resistance transfer apparatus has one or more pads with a circular cross-section and concentric holes sized so that the pads each receives one of the resistance rods.
We also disclose a method using the invention for exercising the lower back and upper legs, comprising the steps of:
(a) disposing a person anterior side down on a body support platform so that the stomach and chest areas are supported and maintained above the ground and such that the legs are not supported by the platform but hang freely and vertically down from the edge of the platform;
(b) maintaining the body support platform above the ground with a support structure, and wherein the support structure retains the body support platform at least high enough that the legs and feet of the person are maintained above the ground;
(c) providing a pendulum which is pivotably connected to the support structure and providing the other end of the pendulum with a mounting assembly;
(d) providing a resistance transfer apparatus connected to the pendulum by means of the mounting assembly; the resistance transfer apparatus having resistance rods;
(e) placing the legs of the person against the resistance rods so that the resistance transfer apparatus connects the lower legs of the person to the lower end of the pendulum;
(f) lifting the legs to a horizontal position against the weight resistance of the pendulum by means of the resistance transfer apparatus wherein the force of lifting is provided by the contraction of the gluteus maximus, and the erector and flexor muscles of the lower back;
(g) lowering the legs through the vertical rest position and using those same muscle groups to push the legs past the vertical in a total motion substantially greater than 90 degrees. repeating the lifting and lowering steps to form an exercise regimen.